One of the on-going goals of extrusion operations is to decrease the cycle time for each extrusion operation and thereby increase productivity of the extrusion equipment. Extrusion pulling apparatus incorporate lower jaws which move in a direction transverse to the extrusion axis at the completion of the pulling cycle to allow for removal of the extruded work from the run-out table. The extrusion pulling apparatus then quickly moves back to an initial position to grip a new portion of the work.
Occasionally the extrusions are dragged off the run-out tables by the transverse movement of the jaw from the table. In order to overcome this problem, a fixed stripper finger ha been incorporated in the extrusion pulling apparatus adjacent the jaw to retain the extruded workpiece on the run-out table as the lower jaw is transversely moved. The fixed stripper finger is attached to the extrusion pulling apparatus on the side of the run-out table opposite the cooling table. As the extrusion pulling apparatus completes its pulling cycle, the jaws release their grip on the extruded workpiece and move transverse to the extrusion axis away from the cooling and run-out table. If the extruded workpiece is not completely freed from the lower jaw, the extruded workpiece will ultimately contact the fixed stripper finger as the lower jaw moves in the transverse direction. This contact with the fixed stripper finger and the movement of the jaws causes the workpiece to be removed from the lower jaws and rest on the run-out table for transfer to the cooling table and further operations.
Although the fixed stripper finger effectively retains the extrusions on the run-out table, the extrusions are initially positioned on the far side of the run-out table from the cooling table. It thus takes some time to move the extrusions across the run-out table and onto the cooling table. In the meantime, the extrusions in transit may interfere with the movement of the new extrusions along the run-out tables and thus slow the extrusion cycle.
Strippers have also been used for stripping extruded workpieces from cylindrical mandrels. For example, the U.S. Pat. No. 2,298,887 to Jongedyk (issued Oct. 13, 1942) discloses a pair of stripper members for use in removal of a cylindrical extrusion workpiece from a corresponding cylindrical mandrel in an extrusion press operation. The pair of stripper members interact with each other through an elastic interconnecting linkage means to allow for adjustment of one stripper member relative to the other.